A Walk
by chocolatecastleinthesky
Summary: Keith and Lance go grocery shopping. Keith's actions take Lance by surprise.


Lance and Keith were sent to get groceries once things started lightening up on Earth. Unfortunately, since it was just for the Paladins, they weren't given priority for a vehicle and ended up without one. Since it was only about two miles to walk, they didn't call the lions out. Keith had their grocery list in hand. _Shiro – tea, vanilla wafers, and milk. Pidge – Pocky, chocolate milk, coffee, and Oreos. Hunk – supplies for mochi_. Supplies for chicken curry. Supplies for cake. Keith groaned as he skimmed the list and hit Hunk's name. Lance took that opportunity to complain, too.

"Can you believe how far we have to walk? And walk back? This planet has gravity! Plenty of it! This isn't a meandering joy-filled jaunt! This is torture! And we have to carry stuff back? Man…" Keith tried to ignore his grumbles and focus on figuring out exactly what Hunk meant by supplies. All he wanted was some beef jerky and iced tea. He didn't even know what Lance had in mind. "going to help? Of course not! Instead we have to do all the work and labor! Right, Keith?"

"Shut up, Lance."

"Seriously? Have you been listening at all?" Lance waved his arms in front of Keith's face.

"I tuned you out a while ago. I'm trying to decipher Hunk's message. Supplies? How am I supposed to know what that means? I'm not a cook!" Keith huffed and kept walking, shoving the paper into his pocket.

Lance kicked some dirt before catching up to him. "How much longer do we have? This is taking forever!" Keith grit his teeth and picked up his pace. He honestly didn't mind walking and if he didn't need to carry so much back, he would've just done it alone. "Why couldn't we bring Cosmo and just whoosh us here and whoosh us back?" Lance swung his hands side to side for each whoosh noise.

"I already told you. He's helping move large supplies with Shiro." Keith was pushing how briskly he could walk now without breaking into a run.

"Ughhhhhhhhh!" Lance's body drooped over as he struggled to keep up while exerting the minimum amount of effort.

"Seriously, Lance. We've trained for things way harder than this. Just think of it as training."

"But this is supposed to be a break! We're on break from fighting and saving and heroics! I don't want to have to do physical labor! It should be against the law!"

They walked in silence for a few minutes before Lance started whining again. Keith stopped, and Lance almost slammed into him. Without a word, Keith bent over and swung Lance over his shoulder. When Lance started to protest, he was cut off. "If you're going to act like a child, I'm going to treat you like one. Now shut the hell up." Lance struggled for a moment before resigning himself to be carried the remainder of the way to the store in silence. He tried to avoid thinking about how impressively strong Keith was or how nice he smelled or any of the other million things his senses were assaulting his brain with.

Keith was blushing, not that Lance could see it. Lance was heavier than his body suggested, but not in a bad way. And his legs were more muscular than Keith had expected. More than anything, though, Keith was shocked that Lance hadn't fought more. Not that he minded, of course. But Lance didn't know that. Couldn't know that. He willed himself to composure before dropping Lance onto his butt when the store came into sight. He kept walking, hoping his face turned less red as he did so, or that he could blame the physical exertion. Lance caught up and they shopped in silence, piling up their prizes at the register.

On their way back, Lance didn't complain at all. He walked quietly, contemplating the events from before, his thoughts racing. He ran into Keith when he stopped and would've fallen over if Keith hadn't caught his arm in time. "Th-thank you. It's your fault though!" Lance stumbled over words to make himself seem less klutzy.

Keith shook his hand and handed him a lollipop. "I told you I'd treat you like a child. So, here's your reward for not complaining on the way back."

"But we're not back yet?" Lance took the lollipop anyway, unwrapped it, and discovered it was his favorite flavor.

"It's just over that hill. I didn't want to embarrass you any more than you embarrass yourself when we get back. You manage enough of that on your own." Keith readjusted the bags he carried and started moving towards the Garrison, Lance staring after him before shaking his head and catching up; this time, he babbled about the merits of different types of candy.


End file.
